Cho no Yume
by ZareEraz
Summary: Watanuki is attacked by the white hands that followed her as a child and they spirit her away from her world. But...instead of getting thrown into another world, she's thrown back in time to 1970 where she meets Haruka Doumeki. Stuck in the past, Watanuki has to find her own way home while vacant from her own time, risking her love for a man she's only met in her dreams.
1. Prolouge: Underneath The Blossoms

A/N: ZareEraz here! The idea for this story flew into my head while watching xxxHolic Kei with my friend HeartQueenVivaldi and I just had to start posting it! Bear with me on the updates because I'm working on two other long stories and any other shorts that I come up with plus school and a job, but I hope you'll enjoy taking this journey with me. Enter the dream...if you wish. Happy Reading!

{Cho no Yume}

{The Butterfly Dream: And What Happened Therein}

"One day a man had a dream. He dreamed that he was a butterfly. He fluttered and fluttered, flew and flew. He so loved the feeling of freedom that he decided that he was a butterfly. But when he woke up, he wasn't a butterfly. He was a human after all. Then the man thought, 'I wonder if I, The Man, dreamed that I was a butterfly or if this moment is truly the dream. Maybe the man I am now is a dream that a butterfly is having.'" – Haruka Doumeki

Prologue: Underneath the Blossoms

It was one of those spring days where being inside would be considered a crime against nature. The sun was hanging between wispy white clouds, and a brisk breeze whipped through the sakura blossoms in the park. Watanuki sighed and closed her eyes, breathing in the fresh smell of earth and flowers and the Sumida River that ran next to the walking path she was on. The twenty year old was burdened down with fifteen or so pounds of grocery shopping as she walked, the bags slung around her arms and the few things she couldn't fit on her arms were piled up in her full hands…and she was pissed about it. She'd just been at Yuko's shop and hour earlier and Doumeki had been there with and when dinner time was rolling around, both of them decided that they wanted several courses of dinner and that most of the things they were requesting were complicated as hell. The girl grumbled as she stomped down the sidewalk, fuming at how she was treated like a slave.

"How many times have I told Doumeki that I can't make feudal udon because some of the ingredients don't exist anymore?! But no! He just has to go and request it again and again just to piss me off! And Yuko sashimi napoleon? That takes forty minutes of prep work alone! And then there's the pickled vegetables, sukiyaki and matsusake gohan that aren't difficult per say, but to do them all at once is hard! And that witch wanted French pastries for dessert! Why do I subject myself to this sort of shit on a daily basis?!" Watanuki hissed for another good ten minutes while walking through the park, causing children to dash away from her in fear when they saw her face and the adults nearby avoided her bad mood as well. "You'd think Shizuka would be more appreciative of my cooking now that we're dating but _nooooo_ , he just has to go along like he's always done and make my life difficult in any way he can! And not only that, but when I go to look in the kitchen for the things I need to make their ridiculous requests, what do I find?! There's hardly anything left from yesterday because Yuko ransacked the fridge for her snacks! The only good thing that comes out of all of this is that I _know_ everything is going to be eaten."

The girl was sweating in the cool afternoon air, the fabric of her shirt and pants sticking to her skin. She couldn't stop to wipe the sweat off her face unless she put down all her groceries, so she didn't stop, trying to make it out of the park before having to take a break, but she ended up having to stop anyway. Watanuki reached a familiar grove of sakura trees and paused for just a minute to look up into the blossoms and reminisce. She unloaded her groceries onto the ground and sat down on a little grassy hill to rest, placing her hands behind her so she could lean back and stare up into the pink flowers of the cherry trees. _This is where I met that boy, all those years ago. I was in primary school when he saved me, and he met me here under these trees all the time._ She smiled, remembering the little boy who was just about her age when they'd met. He'd helped her out of a few tight spots when I came to spirits and he was the only one who believed that she could see spirits because he could too. But he'd had to leave and go back to his own world, and she couldn't stop him. The girl's smile disappeared and she sighed, her good mood gone again and she stood up to grab her groceries.

"I need to get back." She grumbled again. "Yuko will get on my case if I'm too long and then she'll pile on more work for me for being late." The woman started picking up her shopping bags, loading them back up into her arms and getting ready to carry her heavy load the rest of the way when she felt a chill crawl up her spine. Her head snapped around, trying to see if anyone or _anything_ was watching her. She looked down the path she'd just come and couldn't see anything, and nobody was around either. She flipped around and looked up the path, the plastic bags around her arms shifting and rustling as she moved. Something was waiting for her up the path, sitting in the middle of the sidewalk, but she couldn't see it quite well. Watanuki edged closer cautiously, her breath coming short as her heart started beating faster. _Is it a spirit? Or just a handkerchief that someone dropped?_ The white thing in the middle of the path started moving and Watanuki froze, staring in shock and horror at what she'd been foolishly moving towards.

It was a hand. A white hand, like a corpse's.

It was sticking up from the ground like a small white tree, only consisting of the hand and the lower arm, but it was enough to terrify Watanuk. She'd seen this spirit before…it had chased her before…and it had taken her friend away from her because it had taken him from his world. The spirit flapped its hand, the noise of grinding bones deafening to the seer as she backed up one step, two steps. The hand sensed her and started sliding forward, flapping its hand menacingly, its white fingers extended to grab onto any part of the girl it could reach. Watanuki was scared stiff at the sight. She knew she had to run, she wanted to run, but after backing away, her feet where rooted to the ground, fear getting the better of her. She didn't have any salt with her, the gift she'd been given by the boy was long gone and the safety of Yuko's shop was too far away for her to run to and not get caught by the hand. She'd have to go back the way she'd come and hope to out maneuver it.

The girl was just about ready to run, taking a deep breath and pushing down her childhood fear when the hand creeping down the path shot forward. Watanuki screamed and dropped all her groceries, the bag clattering to the ground as she took five steps, running away from the spirit when she felt something very, very wrong grab hold of her neck. She hadn't seen the other spirit hand hiding in the cherry blossoms. It had leapt down from the branch and wrapped it cold, dead fingers around Watanuki's throat, cutting off her air supply as her hands flew up to try and pry it off. She scratched and clawed, but it was useless. The spirit had succeeded in catching her, finishing its business from years earlier and just squeezed tighter. The other hand leapt and grabbed her ankle as she struggled to free herself, but the seer already knew that she had lost, gasping for air and praying that somehow Doumeki or Yuko or anyone would save her. But she was all alone this time and in a flash of light, Watanuki disappeared, frustrated tears and all.

The only indication that she'd been in the park was her scattered groceries on the sidewalk, littered with sakura blossoms and the spring breeze.

...

A/N: Hope that was a good enough taste for now! See you next time! :3


	2. Vanished

A/N: ZareEraz here! Chapter One is finally up! Yay! And I'm disclaiming now that even thought I've researched crap, I do not know everything about 1970's lifestyle or fashion in Japan and I'm taking liberties with Haruka's young personality, going along the lines of "you can't be old and wise without being young and crazy" only I'm not taking that saying to the extreme. If there's anything _glaringly_ wrong, please PM me and I will get it fixed right away! Thanks! And don't forget to read and review! :3 Happy reading!

Chapter One: Vanished

Watanuki felt weightless, like she was floating mid air or drifting along a soft current of water. But while her body felt light, her mind was heavy, like it was filled with a fog. Hazy and confused, the girl struggled to look around her and realized that her eyes were closed. It took all her concentration to crack her eyes open a millimeter and when she did, a whirl of colors peeked back at her through the slit she'd made. Watanuki turned her head, trying to see where she was, but her neck was stiff and heavy, like it was a rusted screw that didn't want to move. Figuring that the flow of color around her was all that she was going to see, Watanuki gave up on trying to turn her head and just laid back, waiting for the passing colors to stop dancing across her eyes. She opened them fully, after many moments of struggle and the bright colors around her were the same everywhere, twirling and wrapping around her like they had for her friend all those years ago.

 _Is this how he felt? Traveling from his world? Did he experience the same thing going back? Will I ever get back myself?_ Watanuki's thoughts wandered around on themselves, turning back and folding over the issue of getting back when she didn't have a clue where she was going or what she was going to do when she got wherever she was going in the first place. She kept floating, flowing down the path to another world without complaint because she couldn't talk because she hurt all over and because she couldn't do anything about it right now anyway. The seer just closed her eyes and went along for the ride, praying that one day she'd get back to her own world.

And while in the midst of praying, the universe decided to drop her on her ass.

Watanuki fell out of the path between worlds and a hole opened up in the sky and dumped the girl into the middle of a road, landing hard on her butt and hands.

"Ow! Shit, that hurt!" The aches and pains that she'd felt while floating ebbed, replaced by the stinging compression of her glute muscles and bruised bones in her arms and pelvis. The girl groaned and sat up, rubbing her hands together to ease the pain and then rubbing her butt in the next second. "Damn…why do these things always happen to me? I swear, all of the gods out there are just trying to make my life more difficult! Where the hell am I?" Watanuki stopped complaining about her extremely bad luck when it came to getting in trouble, and took a look around. She was sitting in the middle of a road, under the stars and a full moon. It was nighttime, a complete flip from her own world, but it looked pretty normal. The houses were exactly like the ones in Tokyo (the older ones, that is), with pitched roofs and gates and light just like the ones back home and there weren't any weird alien-like creatures out like in science fiction books so Watanuki calmed down just a bit.

"At least it's pretty normal here. Wherever here is." The girl stood up, finally feeling her body relax and started stretching out her limbs. "If what that boy told me is true, after a while the hands will come back and take me home, but the question is…how long will that take? He was in my world for seven years, so am I going to be here that long? Or longer?" Watanuki's calmness after seeing a familiar landscape evaporated and she was in full panic mode. _Where do I go? What do I do? Can I communicate with anybody in this world? Will I find someone who can help me? How will I get food? How do I get money for the food I need?_ All these adult-like questions jumped in the girl's brain, making her even more worried and scared. She'd been on her own for most of her life so being independent wasn't the problem. She could take care of herself. The problem was, how was she going to survive in a world that wasn't her own?

"Hey, you!" A voice called, startling Watanuki. The girl jumped and whirled around, looking up at an open window, light spilling out into the dark night.

"Y-yes?!" Watanuki asked, standing straight as a board. _Well, at least I speak the language,_ the girl thought. _Yuko told me that there were worlds out there similar to our own without being ours, so I guess I'm lucky that I got dropped off on this one._

"You should get out of the street." The man replied, leaning out of his window. "Not many cars pass this way at night, but you never know what might happen."

"S-sure! Thanks, I'll do that!" The girl replied, bowing in gratitude. The man nodded and smiled, but just before he closed his window Watanuki spoke up again. "Do you know a place I could stay for the night, like a temple or something like that? I'm knew in town and just need to be put up with for a few days."

"Sure, there's a temple that just down that street actually. They might be able to take you in, or at least direct you to a place where you can stay if they can't." The man called back. He gave her directions to the temple and as Watanuki listened, she found familiarity in the instructions he was giving her. Some of the street names were similar to the ones back home and that gave her hope. _Maybe I didn't go anywhere after all! This place is sounding a lot like Tokyo!_ Watanuki smiled her thanks to the man at the window and started running down the street towards the temple he was talking about.

The houses around her stopped being so scary to her, their familiar presence bolstering her hope. _They do look old though, out of style. Maybe I just got dumped into a section of town that hasn't been renovated yet. That's it. I'll be home in no time!_ Watanuki took a right and then a left, sprinting as her shoes pounded on the concrete. She'd get to Doumeki's temple in no time, bug him for a while and then go home like nothing happened. She'd deal with the consequences of not making dinner for Yuko tomorrow. Besides, her boyfriend would be worried about her and she wanted him to know that she was okay. Yuko could fret about it for a night (even though she probably knew what had happened with her mysterious witchy powers). Watanuki ran for three more blocks, took another right and was on the street that led to her school and to Doumeki's family temple. Yuko's shop wasn't too far either, just another twenty minutes or so of walking if she really wanted to stop by. The girl laughed, happy to be so near her home after the scare that she'd been through and ran just a little faster; wanting to see Shizuka's face just so she could make sure she was home.

The temple's gate came into sight, just up ahead and to her left. The girl smiled even wider and ran past the long wall that blocked off the temple and skidded into a turn, grabbing the gate's edge with her left hand and swinging into the courtyard. It was really dark inside, the temple's lights all but out, except for the one's in Shizuka's room, making the flower bushes and cherry trees glow with just the faint light.

"Doumeki! I'm back!" Watanuki yelled, getting the attention of her boyfriend. She ran up the courtyard path and slid to a halt at the temple's steps, leaning over with her hands on her knees, trying to catch her breath. She heard someone moving around in Doumeki's room lifted her head, waiting for him to come out and see her, worried, concerned and grateful to see that she was safe. A shadow appeared at the door and slid it open, revealing the tall stature of a man with slightly messy hair dressed in a sleeping yukata. Watanuki smiled widely and leapt up onto the porch and threw her arms around her boyfriend's neck. Her lips crashed into his and the archer took a step back in surprise, stabilizing himself as his arms wrapped around the unexpected body glomping him. Watanuki kissed her boyfriend hard, trying to imprint their reunion into her bones after her big scare, completely ignoring the fact that his mouth tasted a bit like smoke and then pulled away from his warm body with a huge smile.

"Shizuka! You're never going to believe what happened to me! I was in the park after grocery shopping for dinner and these weird hands cornered me and grabbed onto me! I've seen them before but not for, like, forever and I was really scared because they spirit people away but I came back for some reason and I'm just so glad to see you!" Her voice turned stern as she spoke next. "Now you'd better have been worried about me and tell me how grateful you are that I've come back!" Watanuki waited for his response, tightening her grip in his hair and hoping that he'd just be glad to see her so she didn't have to yell at that jerkass for once.

"I'm sorry but…" Watanuki's happy face crumbled at the sound of his voice. It didn't sound like Shizuka's, it was a bit higher and smoother, not at all like her boyfriend's…but she had heard that voice before, talked with it many times, in fact. Watanuki fell out of the man's arms and took a step to the side to look at his face as he turned to follow her. "I don't know you. But, if you'd like to kiss me again, that'd be fine. It's the first time that a girl I don't know has run into my arms and kissed me like that!" The man laughed, a smile lighting up his face.

It was Doumeki's face, but at the same time it wasn't Doumeki's face. His hair was dark like Shizuka's, his eyes were bronze like Shizuka's and his skin and bone structure were just like Shizuka's…only he wasn't Shizuka because frankly, Shizuka never smiled like that even though it would probably look good on him. Watanuki's jaw dropped in shock and embarrassment that she'd just kiss her boyfriend's grandfather, her face going beet red as all her blood rushed to her cheeks, leaving her fingers and toes numb, just like her heart was. Haruka just continued to smile at her and all the day's oddities came crashing down on the girl. Watanuki blinked her mismatched eyes once, twice and then she fainted dead away, crashing down onto the temple's porch hard and blacking out for the second time in the span of a few short hours.

…

Haruka looked down at the girl lying on his futon and scratched his head, before flicking off the light and sitting back down next to her. After she'd run into his arms and kissed him, blabbering on about something he really didn't understand, he'd tried to diffuse the tense look on her face when she realized he wasn't who she was looking for…but she'd just backed away from him in horror and passed out on his porch. Talk about a weird situation. He'd never had a complete stranger run up kiss him before, but he'd definitely had never had said stranger sleeping in his bed because she'd fainted. That was even too much for him. Luckily for him, Haruka's parents hadn't woken up with all of the girl's chattering and running and so he could sneak her into a guest room in the morning if need be.

The man sighed and looked at his unexpected charge, giving her a good once over. She was tall, only about a half a foot shorter than he was with black hair that fell past her shoulders once it was out of its pony tail, heterochromatic eyes from what he could tell and she wore glasses. She wasn't really curvy or anything but by her appearance, she was out of high school or very close to being so and she was loud – really loud – from what he could tell just from their short encounter. She'd shown up so unexpectedly and Haruka was taken aback by her overly-familiar behavior when interacting and talking to him, even though they'd never met before. And the kiss…well, it was something that's for sure. He'd only ever been kissed like that by his ex girlfriend and it had taken him _months_ to get that out of her and this woman had given him just as much in about three seconds!

Haruka shook his head and pulled out his lighter, dragging his eyes away from his guest to light up a cigarette and took a long pull. He opened his mouth and blew the smoke out into lazy curves. Looking up at the moon, the man moved away from the woman in his bed and sat down on the porch, looking out over the courtyard and the sakura trees. His eyebrows crinkled as he thought about the girl and their strange meeting. He was concerned about what she had said to him because it sounded like a spirit had gotten a hold of her but the fact that she knew his family was a mystery. He knew all the patrons that came to the temple, so why didn't he recognize this girl? She had clearly yelled out his family name, and yet she'd also called him 'Shizuka' which didn't ring a bell. Haruka didn't have any cousins named 'Shizuka' and he certainly wasn't 'Shizuka,' but the woman had clearly been convinced that he was her 'Shizuka,' up until the moment she passed out. Haruka took another drag of his cigarette and leaned back on his free hand, extending his left leg out and resting his hand with the cigarette on his propped up knee. It was all very confusing to say the least, and it wasn't getting any simpler because now the woman was talking in her sleep.

"Haruka…is that you?" She said, turning her head and opening her eyes a little. The priest was shocked, his dying cigarette falling to the ground. _She just said my name!_ "Haruka…I had such a weird dream…" The girl was still half asleep, her eyes blurry and her words unfocused, slurred. "A bad dream…" She conked out again, but now the man was left with more questions than before, the answers clearly out of reach.

"She knows my name…she knows my family's name, and yet…I don't know her. I've never seen her before. How can that be?" Haruka astonishingly whispered, picking up his cigarette and putting it out before it set something on fire. He kept staring at the sleeping girl, his eyes wide and his shock only growing as she continued to mumble in her sleep.

"Yuko…no you can't…have any alcohol…shut up, furball…don't eat that…Shizu, don't encourage her drinking…you've had enough…I'm in the kitchen…dumbass…" The mumbling went on further, but Haruka stopped listening. Some of it made sense just as words, but the context of her dream was lost on Haruka. _This girl is getting stranger and stranger. I'll just have to muddle it out in the morning when she wakes up._ As much as he wanted answers right now, Haruka was willing to wait. Obviously this woman had been through quite a bit to end up on his doorstep, so he'd just wait it out and see if he could solve the mystery around her sudden appearance.

Haruka got up after a time and went to pull and extra futon from the room next door. His parent's room was still dark, indicating that they didn't know what had transpired just outside their room. The man wandered into one of the temple's many rooms and rummaged around in a dresser for a futon and an extra pillow. He wandered back into his own room, being as quiet as possible and set up his new bed for the night and gathered up the books he'd been studying including tomes on barriers, chants and incantation, exorcisms and spirits. He stacked them neatly next to his impromptu desk/table and put away the notes he'd been making. Finally satisfied that everything had been organized to his standards, the man slipped into bed next to the girl and quieted his mind so he could sleep. Breathing quietly, the priest calmed the confusion of the night and fell into his dreams.

He awoke very early in the morning, before the sun had risen, and stretched his arms out to roll out the kinks of sleep. The only problem was that something was wrapped around him, making his torso hotter than the rest of his body. Haruka cracked his eyes open and looked down, finding the girl from yesterday clinging to his body. She had rolled onto his futon, throwing her blanket away and kicking herself over to him sometime during the night and messily wrapped her arms around the priest's abdomen. He started in surprise, halfway sitting up and sliding out of bed. The girl woke up too, disturbed by his movement and looked up. She blinked sleep away and blearily looked up at Haruka. She seemed confused for a minute, staring at his shocked face and then her eyes shot wide, her face flushing the same bright red from yesterday.

"Oh my god!" The girl shot backwards, rolling over her shoulder as her legs got tangled in Haruka's blanket, ripping it off him. The priest shivered at the sudden coldness and watched as the girl dug her way out of the blanket and stared at him in horror, hair all over the place and her shirt falling off her shoulder. Haruka was sure that he looked in a similar state (his hair was always sticking straight up on top of his head and he could feel that his yukata was twisted and one shoulder was bare of fabric). "Y-you-you're – oh god, oh god, oh god!" The girl was chattering again, swearing up a storm as she shook her head, in disbelief, Haruka supposed.

"Good morning." He said with a smile, getting over his shock of sleeping _rightnextto_ the girl who kissed him yesterday. _If I can just calm her down maybe she won't pass out again._ "Did you sleep well?"

"Why the hell are you so calm?!" The girl snapped, and then she clapped her hands over her mouth. "Sorry, I-I…" She apologized, stammering in embarrassment.

"It's okay. You've had quite a scare since yesterday." Haruka smiled again, his calm demeanor smoothing out the conversation. "I brought you inside after you fainted, but I was surprised that you took to me so quickly!"

"I'm so sorry!" The girl ducked her head, throwing herself into a bow. She was still disheveled, but Haruka could tell that she was trying to pull herself together.

"It's okay." He amended. "I probably should've moved you to another room but that might've scared you just as much, being in a foreign place and all.

"But I've been here before-" The girl's head popped up as she responded and then she clamped her lips shut suddenly, cutting off her comment. Haruka tipped his head, confused as to why she stopped.

"So you've visited the temple before?" Haruka was sure that's how she knew his home, but he still couldn't place her face and he knew _everyone_ that walked into the gates. "I know that a lot of people visit here, but I can't remember ever seeing you here. We keep accurate records, so I'm sorry if we've missed you." That could be the only explanation.

"No, you've got it all wrong! I-" She cut herself off again, clenching her fists on her knees and turning her head away. She wouldn't look Haruka in the eye and that bugged him just a bit. He wasn't going to get mad at her for pointing out that he'd forgotten a valued patron of the temple, in fact it was irking him more that he couldn't remember a girl who was familiar with his family and clearly comfortable around him, if the way she'd been sleeping on him was any indication.

"Well, why don't we start with your name? That way I can see if I can remember you." Haruka suggested, reaching his hand out and touching her chin, turning her head towards him. She jumped at the contact, but finally met his eyes. _She does have different colored eyes. How interesting._ Haruka looked into the woman's one blue eye and one bronze eye and nodded encouragingly.

"Kimihiro Watanuki." The woman answered, picking up her glasses and putting them on.

"April 1st?" Haruka asked.

"It's my birthday." Watanuki replied.

"At least no one will forget your birthday, seeing as it's your name!" Haruka chuckled a little at the irony. "Now, let me introduce myself, Watanuki. I am –"

"Haruka Doumeki." The girl responded instantly and then clapped her hands over her mouth again in horror.

"I see that you already know me! But how can that be that you know me without me knowing you? Has my reputation traveled far and wide now?" The priest laughed, overly dramatizing his words. He was half-joking and half-serious as he talked, still trying to muddle out Watanuki. But it seemed that she'd clammed up now, her mouth zipped and she'd gone back to not speaking to him. Haruka sighed and stood up, scratching his head. "Why don't we get cleaned up and get breakfast started? You can tell me how you came to be here over tea if you'd like." He held out his hand to help the woman up. She nodded, her eyes hooded and suspicious, but she took his hand and he pulled her to her feet. They walked out of the priest's room and Doumeki pointed down the hallway. "The bathroom's this way."

"I know." Watanuki grumbled, heading towards where he was pointing. "Damn! I did it again!" She swore, stomping her foot before stalking off. Haruka watched her dash down the hall frantically with his brows furrowed again in confusion. _She's just getting weirder and weirder._ He shrugged at the strange girl and went back into his room to roll up the futons and straighten his yukata.

While they had been talking the sun had peeked slightly over the cityscape, the early morning grayness starting to light up the sky. The man packed away their sleeping mats and took the extra back into the other room and then walked to the kitchen, his thoughts on Watanuki still spinning around in his head. He prepared some hot tea for when she was done in the bathroom. As he added the tea leaves to the two cups and whisked the drink together with hot water, Haruka couldn't help but dwell on how Watanuki seemed to know his house, but by the time his suspicions rose, Watanuki was already walking into the kitchen without being told where it was. Her sudden appearance surprised him and he nearly spilled tea on himself.

"Did I startle you?" Watanuki asked, brushing her shirt down. Haruka got a good look at her clothes this time, eyeing their odd fashion. She was wearing pants first off (a thing that few women did), had flat black shoes to match her pants (also odd because most women wore heels wherever they went) and a white, ruffled blouse that hugged her thin waist and hid her small breasts. She wasn't wearing anything that was considered normal by today's fashion where women were advertised wearing brightly colored dresses and flashy pump shoes and things like that. Watanuki was wearing very plain looking clothes, but they weren't reflecting the fashion Haruka was used too and that just added to her strangeness. Watanuki had also washed up by this time and her hair was pulled back into its original pony tail and she looked slightly more comfortable.

"A little." Haruka smiled, answering her question and handed her a cup of tea with a smile. She smiled back shyly and took the cup, sipping her tea in silence. There was a pause in that moment, where the sounds of the early morning city filled the quietness that had fallen in the kitchen, the few cars that were on the streets zooming past amidst the twittering of birds in the gardens of the temple. They both just looked at each other sipping their tea, neither of them quite sure where to start with each other.

"Now, why don't you tell me where-" Haruka started, setting his cup down on the table.

"How about I make breakfast-" Watanuki said at the same time. They both clamped their mouths shut and stared at each other. Then Haruka burst out laughing.

"What?!" Watanuki snapped irritably, displeased that the man she knew to be so calm and profound was laughing at her like some teenager that was just told a dirty joke.

"I sorry, but you're face was hilarious! Your eyes were all wide and you just blush so cutely!" The priest calmed down after laughing all the tension out of the room and Watanuki had to smile just a little as he composed himself again. "Breakfast would be wonderful. And then we can talk about how you got here."

"Sure." Watanuki nodded, and Haruka didn't know if she was agreeing to make breakfast or tell him where she'd come from or both until the woman yanked a handkerchief out of her back pocket and tied her hair back and turned on the oven.

Haruka watched the girl move about the kitchen as she calmly opened cupboards and the fridge, only stopping once or twice to ask him where things were because they weren't where she was expecting them to be (and the surprise on her face when things weren't where they were supposedly supposed to be was comical to the priest). It was odd – a stranger knowing his home. Of course, people came to the temple all the time, but that was in the public areas – the courtyard, the shrine, and the back garden – not his living space. By the time Haruka had thought that through, Watanuki was already halfway done with cooking the rice and grilling fish for breakfast while grabbing eggs and cracking them on the skillet to roll tamagoyaki. Haruka was impressed by her efficiently in the kitchen, the way that she started and completed three tasks at once and start another in between like it was nothing that and the fact that she knew his kitchen inside and out like she lived there…but one thing concerned him.

"Why are you making so much?" He asked. Watanuki paused in her cooking, looking back at Haruka with a confused look on her face. And then something clicked as she rolled her eyes.

"Of course." She replied sarcastically, slapping her hand to her forehead. "You're not an endless pit, are you? Please tell me that you're not the only one who lives here. I don't like wasting food."

"My parents live here too, so it should all get eaten." Haruka replied, amused with Watanuki theatrics.

"Good. I'll have to remember that. Damn, that jerkass." She shook her head and turned back to the miso soup, "He's messed up my estimating skills."

"Who's this 'jerkass' you keep talking about? I'd really like to know who he is." The priest said off handedly. Watanuki stiffened, only her cooking chopsticks kept moving. _Apparently that's a touchy subject._

"He's just a guy I know…" The girl trailed off and started to cook again, only the stiffness in her shoulders didn't leave like it had before. _Time to change the subject…_

"Do you need any help?" Haruka asked, offering to do _something_ so Watanuki didn't have to do it all.

"Nope, I'm good. I'm used to doing literally _everything_ at my job." Watanuki rolled her eyes and mumbled something about "Stupid Yuko!" before turning back to the soup she was stirring. Haruka just sat back in his chair and watched silently for a few minutes, until Watanuki started giggling.

"What?" He asked.

"I'm just so used to new orders and requests for food being thrown at me at my job that this quietness is weird." Watanuki replied.

"So you work at someone's house? Like a housekeeper? That's odd."

"Yeah, you could call it housekeeping." Watanuki said, a sarcastic undertone in her voice. "Why is it odd?" She asked pulling the fish off the stove.

"Most women today don't work outside their own homes." Haruka answered, shrugging his shoulders. Watanuki stiffened again.

"This is going to sound like a weird question…but…what year is it?" Watanuki asked quietly, pausing in her sentence like she didn't want to ask the question.

"1970." Haruka replied, not commenting on how someone of her age should really know what year it is.

"Shit." Watanuki cursed, turning back to the stove and furiously rolling more tamagoyaki Haruka also didn't comment on how foul her mouth was. The silence was back and Watanuki didn't offer any more information about herself until breakfast had been placed on the table.

"Itadakimasu." Haruka clapped his hands together and gave thanks for the food and the woman who made it for him.

"Itadakimasu." Watanuki said as well, clapping her hands together and then taking up her chopsticks. They ate for a moment, the girl picking at her rice and tamagoyaki and the man taking bites out of his fish and sipping his soup.

"This is excellent, Watanuki." He complemented, thinking how she took such a simple meal and gave it a new sort of taste. He would never let his mother know but…Watanuki's cooking was far superior to anything he had ever eaten.

"Thank you. I'm really glad you like it." The girl smiled again, less tense than before. "I love to cook. My father started teaching me when I was very young and I just took to it naturally."

"Well, I'm impressed." Haruka smiled warmly. And then his smiled dropped because he was going to have to start asking her questions she'd been clearly avoiding from the moment she woke up. "Watanuki, how did you get here?" He asked gently, setting his bowl down. Her smiled dropped off her face.

"Well…I…uh…I…um…" Watanuki couldn't seem to get her thoughts together so Haruka decided to prompt her.

"You said something about a spirit last night. Are you being haunted?" He inquired. "If you are, I can exorcise it for you, if you wish it to go away."

"It's not that…" Watanuki paused and took a deep breath. Haruka waited, letting her pull her story together because she was obviously going to blurt it out all at once.

"It's not just one spirit that's always after, but a whole bunch of them, like, all the time and it's been happening since before I can remember so, even though I don't doubt your power or anything like that, I don't think that an exorcism would help because more and more other spirits would just replace that one you got rid of. And this particular spirit that threw me here is one of those that there's a lot of them if you care to look so it wouldn't matter if you got rid of one, there'd just be a bunch more running around and I don't even know if they're still her to begin with." Watanuki peeked up at his face, not having looked into his eyes the whole time she was speaking, and her face said that she wanted him to believe her, to not think she was crazy. She wasn't, in his opinion, he just needed clarification.

"Okay, you've got a point," Haruka started and he saw Watanuki sigh in relief. "But what do you mean by 'threw you here?' Do you live far away from here?" Watanuki chuckled dryly.

"You could say that." She replied. She obviously was expecting another question because she didn't go on, but Haruka just looked at her, one eyebrow cocked waiting for her to say where she lived. The girl sighed. "I guess I have to tell you." She took another deep breath and went on, "I live in Tokyo…but I live about thirty years in the future." Okay, now Haruka was shocked.

"Seriously?" He asked, completely flabbergasted at the statement.

"Now you think I'm crazy." Watanuki rolled her eyes and shrugged as she leaned back in her chair, folding her arms moodily.

"You're from the future?!" He gasped.

"Yep! These weird little white hands thought it would be fun to take me from my world and toss me into another, but instead of getting placed on a completely different planet, I end up back on mine but in the past. It's a piece of shit, right?"

"Hand spirits?" Haruka jumped past the time-traveling because he just couldn't process it at the moment (but it would explain Watanuki's clothes, now that he thought about it) and just leapt to something he knew a lot about. "Like an akateko?"

"Those are the red infant hands, right? The ones that hang from trees?" Watanuki questioned. Haruka nodded, thankful that she knew at least some things about spirits so he didn't have to explain a whole ton like he usually did when someone was being haunted. "These ones do hang from trees sometimes, but their white like a corpse's hand and spirit people away, so I don't think they are the same thing."

"So these spirits carried you here from your home. Do you have a way back?" Haruka asked.

"No. Only when sufficient time has passed will the hands come for me and take me back to my time." Watanuki grumbled.

"Your time." Haruka repeated, still trying to process the fact that the girl sitting in his kitchen was from the future.

"Yes, _my time_. 2010." Watanuki repeated back. _Okay…moving on._

"So, you came to this temple because it exists in your time as well?" Haruka asked next, getting to the point where Watanuki ran up to his porch last night.

"Yes." Was all that the girl answered.

"And you thought I was a Doumeki family member that you knew?"

"Yes." The girl said, moody again. _That's the touchy subject. And it also explains how she might know the private living area of the temple. She's obviously close to one of my family's descendants._ Watanuki didn't say anymore and so Haruka gave up, deciding that the information he had was enough to get by for now.

"So, you're from the future, spirits brought you here, you know this temple, you have no way back to your time, and you have no place to stay."

"That about sums it up!" _What a mess._ Haruka looked across the table at his unexpected guest and wondered why this situation had been dumped on him of all people and how he was going to fix it.

"How about we finish breakfast?" Haruka said cheerfully, not letting any aspect of this mess get to him.

"Sure. Fine." Watanuki shrugged sarcastically, starting to eat again. She seemed really lost as she picked at her food, her eyes downcast at the table and everything in her body language said that she was pretty desperate and Haruka was speaking before he even knew it.

"Why don't you stay here?" He offered with a warm smile and then internally smacked himself for acting without thinking. It's not like he didn't like the woman (he really did like her actually, and she was amusing and a good cook if nothing else) but what would his parents think about an unexpected guest who was obviously familiar with her surroundings in the temple suddenly living here, not to mention that she was from the future? (He would most definitely leave that part out!)

"Really?!" Watanuki's face lit up, a bright smile splitting her face.

"Why not? You obviously have no place else to go and I think I want you to cook for me every day!" Haruka joked, (but still serious about cooking).

"Selfish bastard." Watanuki joked back, her eyes holding just a spark of anger. "You're just like my employer!" She chucked one of her chopsticks at the priest's head. He didn't dodge fast enough and the utensil poked him right in the forehead.

"Ow!" Haruka rubbed his head and scowled. Watanuki just giggled at him, covering her mouth with one hand. He smiled at the girl sitting at his kitchen table and wondered what he had gotten himself into. But it really didn't matter, because he had a feeling that they were going to get along, no matter what his parents threw his way when they found out about Watanuki. And he had a feeling that she knew just how to make the best out of anything life gave her. Or at least how to complain about it loudly and throw chopsticks at it.

…

Shizuka Doumeki wouldn't admit out loud that he was worried, but internally…he was a bit of a mess. Watanuki never took more than an hour and a half to walk, shop and get back (unless of course, he was with her and kept coming up with new things to eat which required buying more ingredients) and she'd been gone for more than three hours. As he and Yuko hung around the shop, the witch had gotten antsy and bored as Doumeki had playing with Maru and Moro. She'd complained and moaned constantly while drinking the sake that Watanuki had left out and had then searched for three more bottles when the first one was gone. It was when Yuko's irritated mood dropped and a knowing calm took over that Doumeki got concerned. Yuko said one word, but it was said so sadly that it meant everything.

"Watanuki."

Doumeki had shot to his feet and was out the door before anything else could happen, running towards Watanuki's favorite shopping spot. The sun had long set in the time they had been waiting, the streets were shadowed as house windows lit up the night while the archer sprinted, his feet pounding on the pavement harshly. His heartbeat echoed his footsteps, getting faster and more frantic as the run dragged on. _Watanuki! Where are you?_ His head methodically scanned the streets as he ran, the panic locked up inside his chest beginning to seep into his movements. He burst out of the residential area that came to the Sumida River and one of Watanuki's favorite parks. _She would've taken this path._ Doumeki turned onto the most direct walking path to the shopping district. Only a few people were out at this time of night, walking under the tree and the moon, so no one really noticed when a lone man skidded to a stop in front of a line of cherry trees, breathing heavily and starring down at a pile of dropped groceries cover in flower petals.

He stood there for a minute or two, looking down at the ripped bags and burst packaging from where they had been dropped. Then, after a time, he bent down and gathered up the bags as best he could and started walking out of the park as the street lights flickered on, revealing the empty spot where the groceries used to be.

...

A/N: And there you go! See you next time! And don't forget to comment on what you think! :3


	3. Mutual Contract

A/N: Here's chapter two! I have taken the liberty of creating Haruka's parents for the purposes of my story and they are my own original characters. I hope you like them as well as this chapter! Read and review! I'd love to know what you think!

P.S. Since I suck at math I had to redo my calculations for how old Haruka would be in in 70's and realized that he was too young for 1975 in correlation for what year I had placed his death in. Therefore, Watanuki gets shot back into 1970 instead of 1975, just so you know. I have also fixed this error in the previous chapter.

Mutual Contract

"So…you're saying that I have to wear a kimono?" Watanuki asked, on hand on her hip.

"Until we get you some normal clothes." Haruka said, holding out a simple purple kimono that his mother had probably forgotten about.

"Normal?! These are normal clothes!" She argued.

"Not here they're not." Haruka said, holding the kimono out further. "If you don't want my parents to kick you out right from the start, then you need to look their sort of normal. Pants are not their sort of normal and neither is your foul mouth." There was a pause where Watanuki pulled a disgusted face that said she wasn't impressed with his reasons. "What?"

"You're so much more profound and confusing when you're older." She sighed, grabbing the kimono unceremoniously and stomped out of the hallway.

"Wait! I am?" The priest dashed after her.

"Yeah! You'd say something like, 'When entering the village, obey the village laws, if you wish to walk among its people unseen,' or something confusing like that." Watanuki replied, tossing the kimono up in the air and catching it.

"Really?" He asked, excitement in his eyes for knowing a little of his future.

"Yes! Now go away!" Watanuki stalked into a random room and slide the door shut in the priest's face.

"Whoa!" Haruka gasped, stepping back before he lost his nose. He held his nose tenderly even though Watanuki had missed. "I've got to watch out for that temper! And get more profound."

Haruka shrugged and walked back to his room to change into some clothes to go out in because they clearly needed to buy Watanuki some normal clothes…or "normal" clothes as she would say it. He could almost see her face as she made the air quotes and chuckled softly. Haruka pulled out a pair of black slacks, a fresh pair of socks and a white button up shirt. Putting those on, the man finished up his outfit with a gray vest in which to stash his cigarettes (which went directly into their designated pocket) and popped in a stick of chewing gum to wait for Watanuki. He lounged in his room, rolling more cigarettes – sprinkling his tobacco, folding the paper, rolling the joint and then licking the adhesive to close it off before stacking them in the little white box. He'd gotten through fifteen cigarettes when Watanuki finally walked out, fixing the collar her deep purple kimono and smoothing down her orange obi. Haruka's head shot up when she cleared her throat and he smiled at her.

"You clean up nicely," He said, appreciating how proper Watanuki looked in traditional clothing.

"Shut up." She scowled, glaring at the man as he cleaned up tobacco. "Are you sure you don't want to greet you parents now? I feel bad not introducing myself right off and going out shopping instead."

"What's the story we came up with?" Haruka prompted, giving her the eye while referencing their conversation at the kitchen table.

"That I'm your friend's second cousin visiting from Kyoto and I'm considering living here for the time being – in case I end up staying for quite a while because I have no way back to my time. My cousin's name is Shigure Hashimoto and their family has gone on vacation for the month – which is true if your parents check on my story, because he's _your_ friend – and since this was a surprise visit, I have nowhere to stay and no family to stay with and you found me sitting in front of their empty house whole you were checking their mail, which the Hashimoto's have asked you to do for them." Watanuki recited, rolling her eyes.

"Right, and if you show up to the temple without a travel bag, clothes and hygiene products, that's going to be pretty suspicious." Haruka said jokingly. "So to tell a good lie, we need to make it look like the truth." Watanuki's eyes widened and her mouth dropped just a little. "What?" Haruka asked, wondering why she was staring at him like that.

"You were profound…" She breathed.

"I was?" Haruka smiled a little wider.

"Yeah, yeah but you're still not good enough for my time." Watanuki huffed, folding her arms roughly.

"Give me a break."

"Nope. It was a good try, but keep practicing. Let's go." Watanuki walked down the hallway and to the genken to borrow Haruka's mother's sandals until she got a pair of her own. The man was right behind her, slipping on his lace-up, black shoes and then sliding the door open for the girl.

The sun was up now as Watanuki stepped into the temple's courtyard, peeking in between the branches and showering the ground in little spots of light. The girl clopped down the stairs and wobbled on her shoes, not used to the height of the geta because she only wore those kinds of shoes at festivals. They weren't too high, only about three inches, but it was that three inches that emphasized Watanuki's clumsiness and weird movements. Haruka watched in amusement as he followed, smiling at the girl's struggle to walk smoothly on the slightly uneven cobblestones.

"Need some help?" He teased.

"No! I can do it myself. Just give me a minute!" Watanuki hissed, straightening herself up for the fifth time and taking tentative steps in her cumbersome sandals. Seven steady steps later she huffed at Haruka and turned around to stick her tongue out at him. Unfortunately, her geta tooth clipped against a raised stone and she started going down, her triumphant moment undermined by her fall. Haruka's hand flashed out and grabbed her wrist, arresting the girl's fall before she hit the ground. Watanuki jerked to a stop, one foot in the air, one hand behind her and one hand that had been ready to break her fall.

"Do you need help now?" The priest asked.

"Maybe…just a little." Watanuki admitted. Haruka pulled the girl onto her two unsteady feet and wrapped the hand he was holding around his elbow, placing his free hand over her fingers.

"There. Now you walk straight and I can escort a pretty woman." Haruka winked playfully, still teasing but Watanuki still blushed, tipping her head down to hid her face in her bangs.

"You big dork." She sighed, forcing her blush down and tipping her head back up.

"That's an insult, right?" Haruka asked, not quite understanding her slang.

"Yes." Watanuki snorted, pulling her hold on the man's arm as they went back to walking out of the temple's grounds. Feeling must steadier, Watanuki strolled out onto the quiet street of Haruka's neighborhood, her eyes searching for familiar things. She found that the houses in this area resembled the houses in her era, only some of them hadn't been remodeled yet and several vacant lots hadn't been filled with the new houses that were to come in the future. But the simple serenity that she felt was the same as in her time, the quiet presence of a Doumeki adding comfort to her troubled spirit. She wasn't at home, no matter how some things appeared, but at least she wasn't alone. Haruka let her think and look in silence, curiously watching the girl's eyes flit from one house or street to another, her eyes lighting up when (he presumed) she saw something familiar and darkening when a spot wasn't as she remembered it. It was intriguing, having a woman who knew more about the future than anyone on the earth because this present she was stuck in was, in actuality, her past. Things she studied in history books or with grandparents (which apparently she did, only it was Haruka himself that she talked to instead of her own grandparents for some reason). The pair walked in silence, the noises of morning gearing up for another day.

They ended up walking to a bus stop and then got onto a train to get into the city's bustling shopping districts. Even at eight in the morning, Tokyo was awake and slowly building up its steady roar of cars, trains and people shouting, shopping and working through their day. The bustle was familiar to Watanuki, but the city itself felt alien. There were not buildings where there were supposed to be buildings, buildings where buildings weren't supposed to be, the shops were dated in her eyes, the advertisements old and the people walking around her were wearing the most ugly clothing. _That's the seventies for you,_ Watanuki shrugged. The seer thought that she was going to stand out in her kimono, but she realized that a lot of older women and even some younger ones were doing just as she was. Watanuki didn't stick out, she actually blended right into the streets so well that no one would even think that she wasn't from around here.

Haruka pulled the girl into a relatively middle-budget store and pushed her into the racks of women's clothing. The girl then proceeded to bash every single piece of clothing, muttering to herself that they looked to old (even though they were brand new), were out of fashion (even though they were in fashion) and decided that she'd be doing the sighted world a favor by shooting some designers in the face. By the time she'd picked out some simple, interchangeable clothing combinations, Haruka was beginning to wonder how anyone put up with Watanuki because she was certainly trying his patience at this point.

"Are you finished looking yet?" He grumped, leaning against a rack of trendy pants and wondering if Watanuki was going to dress like those daring women who dressed like men. She certainly had that vibe when wearing clothes from her own time period. The priest smacked his hand to his cheek and drooped down on the hangers, groaning in irritation and boredom. They'd been in this store for an hour and a half already! And they still needed to buy her a bag or suitcase, shoes of some sort and hygiene stuff.

"I'm only getting undressed once so I need to see everything before I try them on!" Watanuki grumbled back, pulling two sizes of black skirts off the rack. She then glared at Haruka again and then stomped off to the dressing room. She clicked the door shut and started cursing at the kimono's sashes as she undressed. Several female store clerks hovered around Haruka as Watanuki changed, being nice to him and two of them tried to flirt. Haruka just smiled and made light conversation with the women until Watanuki emerged from the dressing room in a red and white plaid skirt, a white button down shirt and a matching red sweater vest. She twirled once for Haruka and then stood with hands on her hips, her stocking feet tapping on the floor.

"What do you think?" She asked, gesturing to the outfit.

"Perfect. Now you look normal."

"Gee, thanks." Watanuki breezed back into the dressing room to change again. She came out in various pencil skirt/pleated skirt and shirt combinations and two long sleeved, short skirt dresses in bright patterns joined the growing pile of purchases. The last outfit Watanuki tried on was a pleated, sky blue skirt and a cap sleeved white button up and Haruka had decided by then that Watanuki should wear skirts all the time.

"That one's my favorite." He commented, smiling cheerfully.

"You think so?" Watanuki asked, looking back at herself in the mirror. "Well, I'm done now." She walked back into the dressing room and changed into her borrowed kimono. When she came out she was carting seven different outfits (which could be swapped around for other combinations) and reached to get her wallet. But a hand placed over her own stopped her and Haruka handed over the correct about of bills so the clerk could ring them up and bag their items.

Out of the shop, Watanuki wheeled on her companion, her bags slapping against her body as they swung around with her.

"Why did you do that?" Watanuki snarled.

"Do what?" Haruka asked, tipping his head away from her loud voice.

"Pay for my clothes! I need to buy them because they're mine!" She argued.

"For three reasons. One, I don't know how much money you have. Two, I don't know how much your money is worth or if it even matches my money. And three, can't I just do something nice for a woman in need?" Haruka asked, turning his serious, bronze eyes on her. Watanuki's mouth worked for a moment, surprised and then not surprised that Haruka had thought that far ahead.

"I have to pay you back somehow!" She blurted out after a moment, blushing slightly at the priest's constant kindness to her. He had done nothing but help her since she barged into his life and started causing him trouble, and kind of shift in balance was what Yuko had taught her to compensate. Haruka looked at her like he couldn't believe she was trying to pay back his kindness, his eyebrow cocked and a skeptical look on his face.

"Do you really feel like you need too?" He asked.

"Yes! I'm living at the temple, sharing your home and you've just purchased my clothes and are probably going to keep buying things for me today! I need to compensate you." Watanuki said firmly. "The universe is kept in balance through giving and receiving, taking prices as compensations for services rendered to any number on individuals. So yeah, I need to pay you back."

"Now who's being profound?" Haruka taunted.

"It's just something someone important taught me and she kind of drilled it into my head." Watanuki blushed, realizing just how much she sounded like Yuko just then.

"Then – if you really want to pay me back – then you can…" The priest tapped his finger against his chin as they walked, thinking and teasing at the same time. Watanuki waited, figuratively sweating because Haruka was like Yuko in many aspects. Especially his teasing personality and ability to come up with some crazy ideas and meddling plans. At least, that's what Haruka was going to become. "You can cook meals and help clean, m'kay?" The man smiled and the girl's head dropped down to her chest in despondency. "What?"

"You've just given me my own job back." Watanuki sighed, drooping even further.

"You work?" The man asked. It wasn't common for women to work outside of their own houses these days, but there were a few modern women who did get their own jobs every now and then. The business world was still dominated by men so it was still odd to think of Watanuki working.

"Yes, I work in this odd little shop run by a demon." Watanuki sighed again.

"A real demon?! You're world's more dangerous than I thought if you're working for a demon!" Haruka whisper-yelled. He didn't want to draw any attention to their conversation because most people didn't know about spirits and the like and he didn't want to get labeled as a crazy person so early in the morning.

"Calm down. She's not a real demon…I think. A witch is more like it." Watanuki tried to explain.

"So…what did this…witch…make you do at your job?"

"Cook, clean, help her with customers, run errands and other things like that. Only I was doing everything except _her_ actual job. I seriously had to cook ten course meals, clean every inch of that damn shop, wash all her clothes and the blankets and sheets and clean and organize her huge storehouse! It was-is murder!"

"What kind of job does the witch do?"

"She's kind of…" Watanuki searched for a good comparison for what Yuko _actually_ did even though she could probably tell Haruka exactly what she did and not have him think that she was a crazy person. "She's like a consultant for people's problems. That's what I tell anyone that asks me what I do, but in reality, my boss grants people's wishes."

"Wishes?" Haruka looked slightly confused at this but he hadn't run away yet.

"Yeah. People find her shop when they have a wish and Yuko grants it. But, to keep the universe in balance, yada, yada, yada, she has to take a price for granting the wish. The more complicated the wish, the bigger the price."

"That is an odd little shop." Haruka concluded, noting that having someone to grant a wish might come in handy sometime in the future.

"Yeah, you're telling me. Oh! Can we go in here?" Watanuki pointed to a little shoe store and dragged Haruka inside. She left the shop with a pair of loafers, a pair of sandals, and a bunch of socks to go with it. Of course, Haruka paid for it, but Watanuki was keeping a running tally of what she owed him. They purchased a bag for Watanuki to put her new clothes in and stopped in a grocery store to buy brushes and toothpaste and bathroom supplies for her. Once they were done shopping, Watanuki entered a public restroom to change into one of her skirts and pack her bag (minus all the tags from _everything_ ) and Haruka camped outside and waited until she was ready, partaking in one of his cigarettes, sending a stream of smoke into the late morning air. Watanuki walked out fifteen minutes later carrying her full tote, wearing the blue skirt and white shirt combo that the priest liked and finished tapping on her new shoes. He gave her a once over and smiled, dropping his cigarette and crushing it under his foot.

"You look nice." He smiled.

"Thanks." The woman blushed, tightening her grip on her bag.

"Ready to meet my parents?"

"No."

"Alright. Let's go." Watanuki was glued to her spot. Haruka reached out his hand to her and winked. "Come on. It's a long ride back. You've got plenty of time to perfect your charming self."

Watanuki rolled her eyes. "Shut up." But she took his hand all the same, and Haruka could feel her relax just a little. _She's comfortable with me, even stranded in a different time without anyone she knows. They're not even born yet and neither is she!_ Haruka squeezed her hand gently, and Watanuki squeezed back as they made their way to the bus station. It was odd. He'd never gotten this comfortable with someone so quickly before. Maybe it was the fact that Watanuki knew him in a different time that was helping. Either that so she was just too dang cute not to like (even if her temper was atrocious). Whatever the reason, Haruka was glad that she was (hopefully) going to be staying at his temple. That way, he could learn more about this strange woman, and maybe weasel some information out of her on how profound he was in the future.

…

Haruka's parents were terrifying. And they were completely mismatched for each other. Watanuki was sitting on a cushion in a receiving room of sorts while Haruka made tea for everyone in the kitchen. He'd be back in just a minute, but in those few minutes…things could go very, very wrong. Doumeki's father was studying her curiously; she could see his dark eyes, kind and probing (kind of like Haruka) looking her over, judging her. _Did I pick a good outfit? Can I really convince them to let me stay?_ He was a giant of a man, getting into his early fifties if Watanuki was judging his age correctly and had a few wrinkles around his eyes and the corners of his mouth, a testament too many smiles. Or many scowls. But he didn't seem to be that kind of man. The father smiled softly, tipping his head. His gray streaks in his hair shined in the light, mixing with the dark brown that all the Doumeki men seemed to possess. He was sitting loosely on his cushion, his burgundy kimono opening loosely around his chest as he did so, a low table in between him and Watanuki and seemed to be at ease. Watanuki wished she could be at ease, but it was the mother that was worrying her.

Haruka's mother looked like one of those ladies that liked to beat children with her cane when they trespassed on her lawn (but, she didn't have a cane and would probably just chase Watanuki out of the temple, cane or no cane). She was as short compared to her husband, just a few inches shorter than Watanuki herself and had dark, beady eyes, wrinkles that were probably frown lines trying to be older to go along with that dismissive scowl in her face. She was giving the girl a once over too, only she didn't seem so pleased or cheerful to have her as a guest like her husband had. The mother smoothed out some nonexistent wrinkles from her deep green robes, placing her wrinkling hands on her lap daintily and then frowned and glared at Watanuki.

"Are we going to sit here in silence all day?" She barked, narrowing her eyes at Watanuki even more. "What is your name, child?" Watanuki shivered and dropped into a hasty waist-bow, nearly bending her body to her thighs and almost smacked her head on the table in her rush. Luckily, she noticed the table and stopped herself just short of giving herself a concussion.

"Sorry, ma'am! My name's Kimihiro Watanuki! Pleased to meet you!" Watanuki threw out her introduction in one breath, hardly stopping to think as she did it. The girl straightened herself up and felt a drop of nervous sweat slid down her back. Her armpits weren't doing much better as she clutched her body in tighter to herself, tense and rigid with fear. _I hope she never figures out that I've got one of her kimonos in my bag._

"Ayumu Doumeki. Nice to meet you." Haruka's father smiled as he introduced himself. "Please feel free to call me Ayumu. It's confusing when there's three Doumeki's in the same house." He winked. Watanuki liked him…but he seemed like one of those people who was nice on the outside, but was critical under the surface and judged everything you did secretly. Those types of people were really frightening and Watanuki had dealt with so many of those in school when she was younger and hadn't learned yet that not everyone could see spirits and the like. But then again, Ayumu might not be critical at all and the seer might just be deluding herself. However, she'd have to be cautious around him nonetheless.

"Karin Doumeki. You may call me ma'am." Haruka's mother continued, sniffing at the girl's introduction. It wasn't very poised or sincere like it should be. She nodded her head sharply. "Now, my son tells us that he found you sitting outside of a friend's house: now why is that?" Watanuki swallowed once, twice, trying to get some moisture into her mouth so she could answer Haruka's mother's question.

"I was going to visit my second cousin's family. I planned on staying with them for a few weeks, but it was supposed to be a surprise visit, but I'm the one who got surprised." Watanuki blushed in embarrassment at lying, but hopefully, it just looked like embarrassment to the older couple. "Your son walked up to the Hashimoto's house as I was trying to figure out what to do and told me that they were out of town for a little while." Watanuki finished her lie, hoping that it sounded convincing and wished for Haruka to _get his ass back in here_ so she'd have some back up. His mother was still scrutinizing her, and her frown deepened, apparently still not liking what she'd found.

"Okaasama, you're scaring the poor girl!" Haruka walked in with a tea tray, as if summoned by Watanuki's frantic thoughts and sat down next to Watanuki. He set the tray out on the table and began pouring everyone cups tea. Watanuki let Ayumu and his wife take the first cups before taking the one offered to her, deferring to age in case that was a huge thing for Haruka's mother (which it probably was, and it was the polite thing to do anyway). They all sipped their tea for a moment and Watanuki was glad that the cup could cover her face for a few seconds, letting her calm herself now that Haruka was here to help her.

"I just want to be sure of her purpose in coming here." The mother replied, sipping her tea daintily before setting her cup down on the table. "What were you doing at the Hashimoto residence if they weren't there?"

"I was checking their mail, remember? Shigure asked me too while he and his family were gone." Haruka replied.

"Ah, yes. I do remember you telling me that."

"And when I found this lovely young lady sitting dejectedly in front of their house, I couldn't just leave her there." He continued smoothly. "The Hashimoto's are the only family you have in this area, right?" The priest turned toward Watanuki as he asked his fake question.

"Y-yes." She stuttered.

"And where are you from?" Ayumu asked.

"Kyoto." Watanuki replied, relieved that it was Ayumu who asked and not his wife. She was tired of getting glared at by the older woman. _I don't know if I can live under the same roof as her,_ Watanuki thought, watching as the woman turned towards her husband (who was reminiscing about the last time he'd been in Kyoto – something about a pilgrimage to all the shrines there or something like that). _Honestly, I don't know how they put up with here. She seems too cold and strict._

"Have you visited any of the shrines, my dear?" Ayumu's voice drew Watanuki out of her thoughts and back into the conversation.

"Y-yes. The Kinkaku-ji Temple and Nijo-jo Castle and-"

"And _you,"_ Haruka pointed to his father, interrupting Watanuki. "Stop pestering her about temples. You're only going to come off sounding strange with your obsession about spiritual sites."

"I was just making friendly conversation." Ayumu countered, smiling good-naturedly at his son. He leaned in closer to Watanuki gestured with one finger for her to do the same. When she was in close, the older gentleman spoke softly. "We'll have a nice long chat later." He winked again and Watanuki smiled as they drew away from each other. _Now, I'm going to have to go study Kyoto! This is getting too complicated._

"So, where will you be staying, now that my son has plucked you off of the streets?" Haruka's mother ruined the good mood of the conversation and got right back to her interrogation.

"I offered that she could stay here. At least for a little while." Haruka replied before Watanuki could.

"Here?" That was the first look of genuine emotion that Watanuki had seen on the older woman's face, and it happened to be shock. But, she guessed that Haruka was a pro at shocking his mother. "But we hardly know the girl!"

"But she has no other family nearby." He countered.

"Then she should just go back to Kyoto. It's her own poor planning skills that started this whole mess." Now came the hard part: convincing the mother to let her stay. Haruka had said that his father would probably be fine with her staying, but they'd have to worry about his mother.

"She wouldn't be too much trouble, now would you?" Haruka glanced at Watanuki.

"Not at all! I can even help around the temple! I can cook and clean and I won't take up much space." Watanuki added. _I sound like a housewife,_ she grumbled internally, hating Yuko for turning her into one at the shop.

"I think we should let her stay, even just for a little while." Ayumu agreed, giving his wife a look that said she needed to pull the stick out of her ass. It was actually kind of comical. Ayumu's wife looked at Watanuki again, her eyes slits as she studied the girl for the tenth time since the conversation had started.

"You both are hopeless against attractive women." She finally snapped, glaring at her husband and wife.

"Guilty." Both men said at the same time, holding their hands up in defeat and smiling.

"You especially." Haruka's mother pointed at him with a hard finger.

"Guilty again." He chuckled. "So…does that mean she can stay?"

"I suppose she can stay for a few days, but if it doesn't work out she needs to find someone else to bother or just go home." Haruka's mother issued the ultimatum, giving Watanuki, Haruka and Ayumu hard looks. All three of them flinched. "And she will not be sleeping in room near yours." She pointed at Haruka again.

"Alright, alright." The hands came up in defeat again. Apparently, whatever Karin Domeki decided was law in the house because neither Haruka nor Ayumu were arguing against any of her terms and Watanuki certainly wasn't going to (she was terrified of the woman already). "Then it's all set. Watanuki will stay with us for now." Haruka smiled at the girl and she smiled back.

"But don't get too comfortable. You'll follow all of the house rules and if you make trouble you'll be out on your own, young lady." Haruka's mother threatened, standing up gracefully and smoothing out her kimono again. Watanuki nodded quickly.

"Yes, ma'am!" She replied, still scared of the older woman. Karin Doumeki left the room and everyone else left in there sighed in relief.

"She's so strict sometimes!" Ayumu complained, sipping at his tea again.

"Don't tell that to me," Haruka shrugged. "You're the one who married her. Honestly, how did you end up with such a scary wife in the first place?"

"I'm not sure, but I blame it on my parents. Ours was an arranged marriage remember? Back when they were still popular. My mother and father both loved Karin from the beginning, and I came to as well. But, before we divulge all the family secrets in front of a complete stranger," Ayumu stood up and brushed off his kimono, offering a strong hand to Watanuki. "Why don't we get you settled? I hope my wife didn't scare you too much."

"At least I'm not the only one who's scared of her." Watanuki took the hand offered to her and stood, reaching for her bag.

"I got that." Haruka was up in a flash and snatched the girl's new bag before she could get it. "Which room should we put Watanuki in?"

"How about in the room that faces the garden? That would be an excellent room for a pretty young girl like her, don't you think?"

"Sure. That okay with you, Watanuki?" Haruka asked.

"Whatever works best for you. I'm the one intruding so I shouldn't complain about what I get, right?"

"Now that's wisdom that Karin would appreciate." Ayumu chuckled.

The trio walked out of the receiving room and Watanuki followed Haruka and Ayumu towards the back of the temple. Even though she'd walked these halls hundreds of times, she let Haruka lead her like she hadn't, pretending to look at everything with new eyes as they walked. In truth, the temple was different in this time period, but it was still so familiar that Watanuki didn't feel the least bit discomforted. _The Doumeki family really does take good care of this temple. There's hardly any difference in its appearance compared to my time. Sure, the walls are a little nicer now, but it's almost the same. Oh, there's the spot where I threw the tongs at Shizuka. It's weird not seeing the scratches in the panel._ Watanuki continued to muse to herself until Haruka stopped in front of a new set of doors that Watanuki hardly went past in her time. The priest slid open the doors and walked in. Watanuki followed quickly, looking around.

The room was a big as Haruka's and Shizuka's room in the front of the temple and looked almost like every other bedroom in the building, but this room had several pieces of traditional art that Watanuki had only seen once or twice before in her own time because they were no longer on display in the temple. Rather, the Doumeki's stored these pieces of art in the storehouse with all of Haruka's books and his own manuscripts. Watanuki walked up to a wall scroll and admired the cherry blossoms depicted in the garden scene. She then moved to the doors at the back of the room and slid them open, peeking her head out to look into the gardens. Those were really different from her own time. The pond didn't exist and there were only a few winding pathways that strolled among the few trees in the back.

"Will this be suitable for you?" Ayumu asked, leaning against the doorframe. Watanuki slid the doors shut again and turned around.

"Absolutely. Thank you." Watanuki bowed slightly, showing her gratitude to being allowed to stay.

"Please, enjoy your stay. And if you need anything, don't hesitate to ask." The elder priest bowed to the girl and then walked down the hall, leaving the two young people alone.

"I'm glad we convinced them to let you stay." Haruka smiled. " I knew my father would be pretty okay with it, it was my mother that was worrying me."

"You got that right." Watanuki sighed. "I'm just scared that she'd going to rip my head off or something."

"Well, as long as you don't make a mess and do everything she says, it'll work out. She may look evil sometimes, but she'd nothing if not fair." Haruka shrugged again. "Need any help unpacking?"

"No thanks. I can unpack my own things. You've done enough for me as it is, most of which I don't deserve since I'm the one causing trouble."

"You may cause trouble, but you're not the kind of person who wishes trouble on others on purpose." Haruka replied, looking at the girl with his deep bronze eyes. Watanuki blushed, her heart fluttering just a bit. _Shizuka really does look a lot like him. They're almost identical. I miss him so much._ A deep ache appeared in the seer's chest, almost physically making her slump over in longing, but she shoved it down, turning her sentiment for her boyfriend and the man who was being so kind to he now into her number one defense mechanism: insults.

"Yeah, well…you're the kind of person who causes trouble just for the fun of it!"

"Oh! You cut me to the quick!" Haruka placed a hand over his chest and groaned. "You're a cruel woman, Watanuki."

"Get used to it. I won't go easy on you just because you're charming." She cocked an eyebrow at the priest.

"You think I'm charming?" Haruka's teasing eye lit up.

"Get out of here already!" Watanuki laughed and shoved the man out the door before she could inflate his ego anymore. She slid the door shut behind him and leaned against its frame. That's when the day finally caught up to her.

In that empty room, so familiar and so not, Watanuki slid to the ground, her knees buckling as she slumped. The girl stared at the ceiling, feeling that deep ache within her again. _I'm at the Doumeki temple, but it's not my temple. I'm with a man who looks like Shizuka, but who isn't. I'm on the same world, so why does it feel so different and so familiar at the same time? It this jus the universe's way of torturing me. I want to go home, but I technically am home. This is the same home that visit almost every day back in my time, so why can't I be happy? Why? Why did this have to happen?_ Tears dropped out of Watanuki's eyes, their wetness running down her cheeks and onto her neck. She sniffed, feeling so distant from everything she knew, and yet, she was sitting in a room whose walls were similar to those she had sat in before. Everything was the same, but not. She was safe, but so far away from home. Her real home. The home where she could yell at Doumeki and throw spatulas at him and complain about Yuko but still do everything she was asked to do and play with the twins and try to stew Mokona and cook for Wari. All of those things were so far away now. Watanuki sobbed, missing her home.

She cried for a little while, letting out all her frustration with her small slice of alone time. But then she wiped her nose on a handkerchief that Doumeki had given her for her last birthday and clapped her hands against her cheeks. Watanuki pulled herself together and threw herself into unpacking her clothing, organizing them in her borrowed dresser and then reorganizing them twice before she was satisfied. She'd calmed down by the end of her unpacking, keeping the hopelessness of her situation locked away for a little while longer and went to go find Haruka's mother to see if she could help clean anything. _Better to be busy than to be bored,_ the girl told herself, hating and cherishing the fact that working at Yuko's shop had taught her that because she was _always_ busy at Yuko's. It just felt right, to help others when they were helping her.

She didn't know how long she was going to impose on the Doumeki's, but for now, she'd compensate them as much as she was able and if that's all she could do, she'd do it so that Karin Doumeki didn't kick her out for being lazy. That woman was terrifying as it was, and Watanuki didn't even want to _think_ about what she'd look like when she was angry.

While she was walking down the hall, Watanuki ran into Haruka again, toting several books in his arms. The man smiled at her and she smiled back. At least she had one friend. _Maybe this won't be too bad, and it'll all work out like Haruka said. We'll just have to see._

…

Doumeki trudged back through the streets he'd just run past a few minutes earlier, his arms laden with Watanuki's groceries. The girl was gone, and if Yuko had sensed something, it had to be a spirit. It could've been a killer or a kidnapper or someone like that, but Yuko probably would've freaked out more if it had been. Instead, the witch had been calm, like this was what was supposed to happen. And it probably was. But that didn't mean that Doumeki was okay with it. In fact, if he wasn't the stone-faced bastard that Watanuki always accused him of being, he'd probably be having a breakdown right now. But, instead of bursting into tears or screaming to high heaven, he just quietly trudged back to Yuko's shop, squeezing the bags of groceries tighter to his chest, trying to stay calm, stay together because now Watanuki had gotten herself into a situation where he couldn't save her. His only hope was that she'd find someone who could help her, protect her if they could until she came back from wherever she was. Where was she? Yuko would have to answer that question for him.

Filled with at least a little purpose to keep his worry at bay, Doumeki walked a little faster towards the shop that he knew would be empty of its caretaker, holding only its mistress and her little court.

A/N: There you go! Let me know what you think! :3 See ya!


End file.
